Despairing Gossip
by allconspirer
Summary: No 6. Another for the Gossip Series. Latest one so far, Hinata and Naruto adore their daughter Kata but everything changes when Hinata goes on one last mission.
1. Chapter 1

The amusing thing about this fic is that it was inspired by Kylie Minougues I should be so lucky! I was listening to the song the other day and I thought 'aw, that's Hinata' so I then ended up starting this fic.

Even though the song is cheery this is the most angsty in the gossip series and Sakura has some redemption in it because, and I cannot stress this enough, I do not hate her, she just bugs me sometimes!

Anyway, the latest in the gossip series, hope you all like!!

I do not Own Naruto

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"I wish you didn't have to do this" Naruto muttered as he watched Hinata strap her weaponry pouch to her leg "You haven't had a mission since the one where we got married!" They were standing in their daughters room where Hinata was making her final preparations for her mission, the small girl was a heavy sleeper and didn't seem to notice her parents less than hushed conversation.

"That's exactly why I want to do this I've been training for ages, I can do this. I'll be back in two weeks." Hinata smiled at him as she slipped on her shoes and sitting on a chair began to tie the laces. "I can fully use my Byakugan for at least an hour at a time now, I'm going to be fine."

"I just liked having you here, having you safe." he told her in a last ditch effort to persuade her not to go, he'd been trying to talk her out of this ever since she was offered the mission a month ago. It was true though, the idea of his wife going on a mission made him particularly miserable, asides from anything else he liked having someone to come home to every day, Hinata would always have the house smelling wonderful with whatever dish she had decided to make that day.

Noting his words carefully Hinata smiled at him, he was so sweet when he worried about her, however she knew that he was just being foolish. "I know you did, but this is just a research/diplomacy mission, practically a D or C rank in terms of safety, just me and my old team. One last job!"

"I still don't like it"

Hinata just laughed as her husband pouted at her trying to dissuade her again but she simply shook her head and moved over to the crib where their five month old daughter lay. "It's going to be easy enough, she sleeps through the night, I'm not breastfeeding her anymore, and you're a dab hand at nappy changing."

"She'll miss you"

"I know, and I'll miss her, but after this I'll be back at the academy teaching occasionally and here at home making your meals, proper housewife."Hinata smiled at the idea of the one time Hyuga heiress being a housewife but she had to admit that she missed her old life. Her voice became wistful as she pleaded with him "Just let me have this one, I need to feel like me again." Hinata pulled her hair up into a ponytail before leaning into the crib where her baby slept, very gently she pressed a sweet kiss onto the girls forehead and whispered an 'I love you my worthy one' before turning back to her husband.

"Just be safe" Naruto begged as he wrapped his arms around her "I really love you"

"I love you too Naruto, please don't worry about me, it's just two weeks."

-

-

Two weeks became a month.

No one had any clue what had happened to team 8, they had gone out and successfully completed the mission but they didn't seem to be coming back. The route they were supposed to have taken was searched thoroughly but with no results.

Kiba, Hinata, Shino and Akamaru were reported missing in action.

-

-

"How are you doing?" Naruto smiled at the young blonde sat on his couch.

"Ok I guess. I'm still sure he'll come back but… I miss him" Ino admitted to Naruto smiling as baby Kata gurgled happily as she pulled on Naruto's hair "Just like you miss her" Ino grinned watching Naruto trying to stop his daughter from hurting him and failing miserably. She had been spending a lot of time here since team 8 went missing, Naruto was one of the few people that didn't look at her with pity whenever she mentioned her boyfriends name.

"Yeah" Naruto frowned as Kata began to chew on his hair "No Kata" he pulled the baby round in front of him hissing as her hold on his hair tightened "Bad baby" he lifted his hand and unlatched his hair from the baby's grasp. "Go pull auntie Ino's hair!"

"Hey!" Ino laughed as she took the baby into her arms and kissed her head "I never pictured you like this, all grown up and responsible. You're good with her."

"Apparently I'm a natural, Hinata said she always knew I'd be able to anything I put my mind to but… I will admit I was nervous."

"Yeah" Ino bit her lip cuddling the baby tighter "Hey Naruto, you know… I was thinking if you need a baby sitter anytime I'm quite willing to do it for you."

"Really?" Naruto was surprised, most of the people in his age range were constantly on missions "I get Iruka and Tsunade to watch her occasionally but… I can't go on long missions at the moment and I must admit they're the best paid."

"Yeah well… I have to give up work for a while" Ino muttered flushing

"Really? Why?"

"Um… mrnpgranpt" Ino muttered unintelligibly

"What?"

"I'm pregnant" she said a little more clearly this time, her face was clearly troubled by her revelation.

"Really? I mean, you're sure?"

"Oh yeah" Ino looked more and more miserable as she spoke "Positive!"

Seeing her sadness Naruto moved to sit next to her "You know Kiba's gonna be pleased when he gets back"

"You think so? I don't know, I'm not even sure what to tell my parents" Ino settled her face in the baby's neck and inhaled her scent.

"The truth, they'll be OK with it, I mean, you guys were living together it was kind of obvious that this could happen. And if you need help with anything I'm always here… you can even have some of Kata's old stuff."

"Thanks Naruto" Ino smiled cuddling Kata to her chest "At least Hinata will be pleased she always wanted one of the rest of us to have a kid, she felt like the odd one out being the only girl from our class with a baby."

"We seem to be the only ones expecting them back." Naruto muttered unhappily

"That's because we're the only ones who know how strong they really are."

There was a frantic knocking at the door that stopped any further conversation, the two of them exchanged a look before Naruto jumped to his feet and went to answer it.

"Shikamaru?" for once it looked as though the lazy man had actually made an effort as he stood on Naruto's doorstep completely out of breath.

"Is…, Ino…, here?"

"Yeah" Naruto moved back into his home letting Shikamaru see into his front room

Seeing who it was Ino stood up and walked forward, she handed Kata over to Naruto as she questioned her team mate "What's going on Shikamaru?"

"Shino and Kiba are back" Shikimaru informed his teammate.

"Oh thank god" Ino gasped at his words and ran forward to hug him. She buried her head in Shikamaru's shoulder and allowed a small sob to escape, Shikamaru hugged her in return patting her back gently.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked urgently

"They don't know, she was captured, they spent a week looking for her but Shino got hurt and was too badly injured to keep going. In the end Kiba was forced to bring him home. They lost Akamaru out there too."

"Where are they?" Ino asked sniffing as she rubbed her eyes

"The hospital."

"Naruto" Ino turned to him "can you come with me? I'm kinda nervous about…"

"I've got Kata" Naruto told her reluctantly, he didn't want to let her down.

"I'll take her" Shikamaru offered immediately surprising them both "Just hand her over, you want to see him almost as much as she does."

"Thanks Shikamaru" shoving his daughter into Shikamaru's Naruto kissed her on the forehead before following Ino out the door way and running in the direction of the hospital.

"Any time" Shikamaru yelled after them before pausing and looking down at the baby he now held "So… please don't cry or need anything while they're 'cause I have no idea what I'm doing."

-

-

"What happened?" Naruto asked trying to remain calm as he questioned Kiba

"I'm not entirely sure" Kiba told him, he lay on a hospital bed with bandages covering one eye and encasing his left arm "We decided to take the most secure route there and back just to be safe, we should have been fine then we were attacked. Eight men just came out of nowhere as we were on our way home."

"Where were you?"

"We were somewhere in the Yael mountains when they struck, we fought really hard even Hinata managed to take out a couple of guys but then another load showed up and then there was an avalanche." Kiba shook his head angrily "Shino and I were buried but they seemed to have something to escape with and were gone in seconds they must have taken Hinata and Akamaru with them whilst we were still under the snow. I'm wondering if the avalanche was even an accident."

"Go on"

"There's not much more to tell we searched for days trying to find her, Shino was in a bad way, his bugs don't work well in the cold and then he almost fell into this crevasse, I managed to get him out but his leg was injured really badly! If I didn't get him back he could have bled to death," Kiba paused, he could see that Naruto was nodding understandingly whilst Ino just held his hand lovingly, his voice broke as he said the next bit "it killed to leave them." Tears welled up in his eyes "but… we had searched for days with no clue. We were a tracking team Damn it! We should have…"

"You were a team, that's the whole point" Naruto told him stopping him from getting too wound up "You and Akamaru are great trackers TOGETHER. Hinata was a great tracker with her EYES, Shino can only track if he can use his BUGS. You lost all three of your tools, Hinata's eyes only work for an hour at a time now and she was gone, you need Akamaru, he was gone. Shino needed his bugs and couldn't use them. I'm not angry with you for coming back."

"No" Kiba nodded "but that doesn't mean I can't be. Hinata was my team mate, she was like my little sister, hell I even had a crush on her at one point" both Ino and Naruto looked up surprised at this, Kiba didn't seem to notice "but most of all she was my friend and I left her behind."

"Don't let this destroy you Kiba" Naruto punched his arm lightly, "especially when you have such good reasons to live" he smiled at the blushing Ino who glared angrily at him.

"Yeah" Kiba looked at his girlfriend and smiled lovingly "I have a wonderful girlfriend and loads of friends and family."

"Yes" Naruto drawled as he stood up "I better get out of here and find out what Tsunade is planning to do now she knows more about this, I'll leave you **two** alone" winking Naruto walked out of the room, the teasing had made his mood a little lighter and now they knew where Hinata had been kidnapped from he was sure that they would be able to find her again.

He knew she wasn't dead.

"Why's he acting so weird?" Kiba asked after Naruto had left "and why are you so quiet?" Kiba squeezed Ino's hand gently "What's wrong… you're not breaking up with me are you? cos talk about kicking a man when he's down…"

"That's not it" Ino whispered nervously "I was just wondering…"

"Yes?"

"Do you think our kid will have my ability with minds or your affinity with dogs?"

"I've never really thought about it" Kiba muttered frowning at the odd turn in conversation "I mean, I guess they could both, the two aren't exactly irreconcilable and…" he trailed off noticing Ino's odd cross between a smile and a frown "Why did you…? No way!"

-

-

One month had turned into three.

For three months Hinata had been missing and for three months Naruto had gone to Tsunade's office every day trying to find out if more was known, when the next search team was going out and if he could go with them.

Everyday Tsunade had greeted him with an impatient but indulgent expression as she gave him easy but well paid missions that kept him far away from the Yael Mountain region.

Today Tsunade met him with a nervous smile and invited him to sit.

"You know something?" he asked hopefully as he plonked himself intot he nearest chair eagar to hear what she had to say

"I'm afraid not" Tsunade sighed "It is customary, when a shinobi has been missing for three months to class them as missing believed dead instead of missing in action."

"No" Naruto shook his head and jumped to his feet "NO! You can't do this!"

Trying to keep her voice as level and businesslike as possible Tsunade merely said "We want to change Hinata's status from missing in action to missing presumed dead" Tsunade spoke as calmly as possible but Naruto's change in expression almost undid her. "I'm sorry Naruto."

"You can't" he shook his head disbelievingly, "she's still out there. She'll come back. If you put her as believed dead then you won't send any more teams out after her will you?"

"I'm sorry Naruto but she's been missing for three months now, it's standard procedure. We've sent teams out to look for her and got nothing. It's time our shinobi were put to better use."

"She's out there somewhere waiting for us to come get her!!" Naruto yelled pounding his fists on Tsunade's desk.

"Naruto" this time Tsunade made herself be cruel to him "Hinata has been gone for three months, 88% of all shinobi that are missing for this long are found dead."

"Hinata will be one of those in the 12%"

"I have named you as next in line to be Hokage, being Hokage means sending people out and knowing they won't come back every time. It hurts every time I have to do this but I do have to do this. This is what it means to be Hokage, it doesn't just mean the strongest, or the most respected it also means the wisest, the person who can accept that sometimes this happens. I'm sorry Naruto, it hurts me to know that you're hurting. You know how much I care about you and your family."

"I know" Naruto's fists were clenched and he stared at the wood of the desk "but I can't do it. I can't just leave Hinata to her fate, the minute I have time I'm going after her."

"No you're not, you have Kata to worry about, would Hinata want you to go after her leaving your baby all alone?"

"How am I supposed to bring my daughter up without her mother?"

"Hinata was."

Naruto snorted, Hiashi's parenting skill were not the type that should be held up as an example "And look what happened there!"

"Ok that's a good point but you've got to make a choice Naruto, you can either make Kata feel miserable for the rest of her life because her mother isn't there or you can do your best and give that girl the best damn life you can give her."

Naruto said nothing for a long time, when he finally looked up at Tsunade again she could see tears in his eyes "Is there something wrong with me? Jiraiya was like a father to me and he died, Hinata was the person I loved the most and I lost her, you ought to keep your distance."

"It's not you Naruto, it's this lifestyle, did I deserve to lose Dan? Or my brother Nawaki? Did Konohamaru deserve to lose his grandfather or Sasuke his family?"

"No" Naruto shook his head feeling bad that he was making such a fuss especially when Tsuande had suffered practically the same loss that he had. "I'm sorry Tsunade I just…"

"I know Naruto. I'm going to be honest with you, this is the sort of loss you never get over, I certainly didn't I went completely off the rails and I've seen many other shinobi crumble completely after a loss like this. "

"How do I get past this?"

"I don't know. Naruto, someone has to tell her family that we're changing her status, I can do it if you want but…"

"No, it's my duty. I'm her husband."

-

-

It was a well known fact that Hanabi never cried, it was not Hyuga to show your emotions and to weep was the weakest way to be seen.

Hanabi cried today, when Naruto met with Hiashi, Hanabi and Neji to tell them the news she didn't care what would thought of her she just cried.

To everyone's surprise Hiashi comforted his younger daughter, instead of talking down to the young girl he placed his arms around her and held her close allowing her to cry thoroughly soaking his clothing.

Neji had obviously been waiting for this for some time and showed no real surprise until Hiashi hugged Hanabi. He and Naruto exchanged a speaking look and left the father and daughter to themselves. "Have you gone to see Kurenai or Hinata's team yet?" Neji asked as he walked away from the Hyuga estates with Naruto

"Kiba and Shino know, they're mad, apologetic, determined to find her, and Kata's with Kurenai, she was upset but she helped me. Talking to her, it was like I was finally talking to someone who understood all my worries."

"Her situation when Asuma died was very similar" Neji nodded "it is logical that she would understand you."

"And she loved Hinata" Naruto sighed as he remembered Kurenai's eyes filling with tears, she had hugged baby Kata tight telling her that Hinata was like a daughter to her and as such she would always be there for her. Normally Naruto would have been tempted to make a joke about how Kurenai was too hot to be a granny but instead he had merely been touched by the promises Kurenai had made.

Now he could see that instead of it just being him and Kata against the world he had back up. Kurenai, Hanabi and Ino were there to help him raise his daughter and Hinata's old team would do anything if he asked.

"If you ever need any help" Neji offered as though reading Naruto's mind

"Thanks Neji, I appreciate it" and he did, but that didn't mean he was ready yet. He missed Hinata, oh god he missed her.

-

-

Ino rubbed her growing belly smiling at the rounding bump, for the first time in her life she didn't really mind being overweight, she could eat whatever she wanted and heaven help the person who commented on it. Beside her Kiba was reading a book his hand on the back of her neck distractedly playing with her hair. The blonde smiled at him wistfully, this was supposed to be the happiest time of their lives and though Kiba was thrilled at the thought of having a child he was still broken hearted over the loss of his team mates. Sometimes he and Shino would just sit together staring into nothingness and she knew for a fact that they were replaying the mission in their heads, trying to remember something helpful or work out where it had all gone so wrong.

The pounding on their front door interrupted both her musings and his reading, jumping to his feet and leaving the room Kiba answered the door letting out a shocked "Naruto?" when he saw who was there.

At this Ino sat up properly and waited for them to come into the room, holding his daughter to his chest Kiba walked in looking concerned and was closely followed by an exhausted and unkempt Naruto.

"Naruto!" Ino jumped up worriedly, he looked like death she didn't want to wonder when the last time he showered was.

"Hey Ino" he even sounded different, his hair hung limply around his face making him look like he'd been living on the streets and his clothes were dirty and torn. He looked pale, there were dark rings under his eyes and his cheeks looked thinner somehow.

"Do you wanna sit down?"

"No" he shook his head unenthusiastically as he dropped the bag on his shoulder to the floor.

Ino's worry about Naruto suddenly became worry for little baby Kata but as she turned to look at the child she was shocked, the baby was clean, her nails were well trimmed, her fuzzy blonde hair looked well brushed and she had that sweet baby scent. It looked as though Naruto was pouring all his energies into keeping the child well looked after and forgot about himself. The baby's light lavender eyes opened and a happy smile crossed her face.

"Ino, Kiba, I have a favour to ask of you." Naruto felt nervous as he stood before his friends

"What is it? We'll do anything to help you" Kiba immediately agreed not caring what the request could be, his guilt over leaving Akamaru and Hinata behind was great and he would do anything he could to make it up to Hinata's husband and child.

"I need you two to look after baby Kata for me"

"Naruto?" Ino was shocked, Kata was all he had, was he really giving her up? She had heard people saying that Naruto was on the verge of a break down but it seemed so unlikely that he would actually give in to something like that. He was too strong!

He was quick to reassure her on that score "Not for long, just a couple of days, a week at most. Think of it as practice" he said as cheerfully as possible "For when your kid comes along."

"But why?"

"Hinata and I promised each other something when little Kata was born, we promised that if anything ever happened to one of us, we'd keep going, for her sake. Now… I'm gonna keep that promise but, I need to grieve. I need to get away, and have nothing but myself to think about, just for a few days. If I don't then… I won't…" Naruto's voice cracked and his eyes reddened with unshed tears.

"We'd be happy to" Ino interrupted not making him say it "Where will you be?"

"Just at home, I'll go out occasionally but if anything happens you can reach me there. Her stuff is here, it's not all of it but…"

"We have some of her things here as well" Ino reminded him "Don't worry, I'll look after her"

Naruto nodded before walking forward and taking his baby from Kiba, he held her close, he kissed her forehead and whispered 'Daddy loves you' Kata merely gurgled kissing him back as much as babies that age can. Naruto stared at her for a moment until the sight of her lavender eyes made his heart suddenly ache and he returned the baby to Kiba's embrace and fled the apartment.

-

-

The room was dark as two men stood surveying the fight they had arranged in the next room, one was a prisoner, weakened by weeks of ill treatment and starvation but determined. The other was a paid henchman well built, well fed, and merely playing with his opponent as a cat would play with a piece of string.

"It would appear that her eyes are slowly fixing themselves, after an hour of use the Byakugan fails but after a few hours rest her Byakugan works again. The damage that we did was not as permanent as we hoped."

"Indeed we failed in that respect..." two men stared down at Hinata as she fought off her opponent "but as you said she cannot use her Byakugan for long, our attempt to damage her bloodline limit was successful for a while."

In the other room Hinata screamed as a kunai sliced her skin and distracted by the pain she didn't have time to dodge the fist that swung through the air. The punch to her jaw meant that Hinata was thrown back and she crashed painfully into the wall her body going limp soon afterwards.

"I think that's enough for today, we can't get any information out of her if we kill her. Take her back to her cell for questioning, when did she last eat?"

"Three days ago"

"Then give her a little something, just enough to keep her conscious. Remember, she won't be sleeping for another 36 hours. She's a tough one but I **will** break her"

* * *

Oh no Hinata is imprisoned and in lots of danger, Naruto is a single dad and he's not coping well without her! I was actually going to do this the other way around but I think I prefer it this way, Hinata's a shinobi and just as likely to get into trouble as Naruto is.

Before anyone asks this was not planned when I wrote the first fic, it was just going to be a one off but it has kind of grown and I am thinking of releasing it all strung together in order but I haven't decided yet.

Please R&R


	2. Chapter 2

I had this chapter done on Thursady but couldn't upload anything, I kept getting this message that there was a glitch. May I just take this moment to say that I love reviews!! The amount I get doesn't usually make me write any faster but it does tell me that people do like my writing… hint hint!!

Thank you everyone that did review, and all you who didn't (I know you're out there) shame on you!!!

I do not own Naruto

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-

Breathing heavily Hinata ran towards her home village of Konoha, she couldn't tell how long she had been imprisoned for but it was too long. She missed her husband, her daughter. She knew they'd be waiting for her and she felt so guilty for having left them at all. She had been driven almost crazy by her captors as they made her go days without sleep or food and drink. She had almost broken down and told them all they needed to know about the Hyuga but she didn't care now.

She was almost home, the Konoha gates were in sight!

Her muscles ached and her chest was tight but she was almost home, she would see Naruto again, she would hold her beautiful baby in her arms.

She reached the gate only to stop as she came closer, there was no guard, that in itself was suspicious, moving slowly she advanced only to stop again when she discovered that though the gate was standing and it had some wall on either side there was nothing else there. The walls were crumbling the houses and shops that were normally seen the moment you walked in had been destroyed.

Walking through the gate Hinata surveyed the ruins that had once been her hometown. There was nothing left standing, not one building rose into view, whoever had done this was more powerful than anyone she had ever witnessed before.

"Naruto, Kata" she whispered and without any more hesitation she began running full pelt to her home. Her legs were almost screaming in agony as she continued her way home, her whole body was ready to drop but she wouldn't stop. As she got to the spot where her little house should be she began to cry out for her husband and daughter. "NARUTO!! KATA"

She was just beginning to give up her exhaustion getting the better of her when she saw it, a patch of orange buried amongst the rubble

"NO" Hinata stared down at the body of her husband and throwing herself to her knees beside him began to cry "No, I was coming back to you, I can't live without…" she sobbed as she cradled his limp body to her chest and then "Wait" Hinata shook her head as she stared down at Naruto's face "This… This doesn't feel right… it doesn't feel real" carefully she placed the body back down and brought her hands together closing her eyes "this feels like… Release!"

Hinata's eyes opened and instead of death and destruction all she could see was a glaring off green light. She tried to move but her hands were fixed down by her sides and her ankles were held painfully tightly. She struggled against her restraints but to no avail, they held firm and the metal was inordinately strong.

"I'm surprised you made it out of that genjutsu, it normally takes weeks"

"Oh yeah!" Hinata was about to make a snappy comment when she realised that the man speaking to her was tied down to a table just like herself. "Oh… Hi." She smiled to her left where the man lay. He was broad shouldered and from the looks of things he was tall, he seemed longer than her from her current viewpoint but it was hard to tell. He had long dark hair similar to Neji but a lot more untidy, he was pale with dark rings around his eyes and red marks across his cheeks.

"Hi" there was a long silence between the two of them until finally the man asked "Do you come here often?"

Straight away Hinata began to laugh, beside her he began to chuckle as well, the two of them lay there each tied down to an operation table laughing their heads off. Finally when the laughter had stopped Hinata responded "My first time in this room as far as I know, you?"

"I've been in and out of here for a month or two now, I lost count of the days after I stopped having anything to mark or measure them with." he looked around at the white windowless walls as he spoke.

"Me too, it's so hard to keep track when you never see the sun." The sun, a memory of Naruto filled her mind and she sighed "I…" her voice cracked and tears began to pour down her face "I saw him dead"

"Your husband?"

About to nod Hinata paused curious as to how he knew who she meant but his eyes drifted down to her hand where her wedding band gleamed in the halogen lights.

"Yeah" she shuddered allowing herself to stare up at the ceiling her head resting on the hard surface beneath her.

"They do that" he told her shrugging as best he could with his hands cuffed down "For me it's my wife and kid"

"You have a child?"

"A boy, he's two… maybe three now… you?"

"A daughter, about nine months old now I suppose" Once again there was a choking feeling in Hinata's throat and her tears began to pour thicker and faster. "He said not to come, he said not to do another mission. I should have listened, I wish I could let him know how sorry I am. I wish I was back with him."

"Your husband?" the man asked again

"Yes" Hinata sniffed unable to wipe her salty tears away her skin began to feel itchy and she knew she must look really blotchy "I love him so much" she turned to smile pathetically at her fellow prisoner. "I just want to go home"

"How long have you been held by these guys?"

"A few months, I'm not sure really. Time's been a bit confusing since they stopped letting me sleep."

"At least you know he'll still be waiting for you, I've been in this place for almost a year, she's probably moved on."

"You don't know that" Hinata argued defending the unknown woman vehemently.

Kai shifted uncomfortably before answering "Look… what's your name?"

"Oh, Hinata" she laughed at her own rudeness for not introducing herself, where were her Hyuga manners? "And you?"

"I'm Kai, As I was saying, Hinata, my wife was, is a noblewoman her father is wealthy and important, he'll want to marry her off again as soon as possible. I understand why, she is heiress to his clan and she only had one child, the leader of the clan is supposed to have more than that."

"Well Kai, I am a noble woman in my hometown, my father never wanted me to marry my Naruto but I did, because I loved him… and cos it was… never mind." Hinata decided against admitting that her marriage had been a complete mistake to start with "My point is if your wife really loves you, she'll defy him and she'll wait."

"Maybe, but do I really want her to waste her life waiting for me?" He didn't sound anymore hopeful than before but Hinata knew she couldn't really uplift his spirits, she didn't know his wife, besides, would Naruto really wait around for her if he thought she was dead? He had a whole army of women that had been admiring him more and more since Tsunade had officially named him as her successor and they were all so much prettier and stronger and… sighing she tried not to think about it. That genjutsu where she had lost him to death was bad enough, it would destroy her to think of him in the arms of some slut.

If he went anywhere near Sakura she'd kill the girl for sure!

Behind her a door slammed open and she heard men trooping into the room, staring defiantly up at her captors she glared at the man that came into view.

"Is the pretty little Hyuga willing to talk to us yet"

"When I see her, I'll ask" Hinata spat back angrily, the man chuckled leaning over her and holding her chin in a firm grasp.

"There are other ways to torture you, and once my boss gives up on his silly little genjutsu practicing I look forward to being alone with you" he pressed his cold lips to hers only to recoil as Hinata bit down hard.

"Bitch" he slapped her hard "let us see how you enjoy this next little illusion…"

Hinata's head began to spin as, clenching her eyes shut she prepared herself for any pain that would follow.

-

-

Watching from afar Sakura could see how badly Naruto was suffering, he truly was lost without Hinata. He rarely smiled and was noticeably quiet and polite, she shook her head, she missed his loud brash ways, when he married Hinata those ways had been noticeably toned down but he had remained ever the cheerful joker. Now Hinata was gone it was as if his spirit had been sucked out of him.

He sat now at the ramen stand picking at his bowl not really eating anything, anyone that knew Naruto knew exactly what this meant.

_"So how long do you think it will be before Naruto's ready to move on?"_

Sakura turned to see two girls watching Naruto just like she was only they were smiling happily at the sight of the unhappy Naruto. She quickly recognised the two girls as being part of the group that tended to follow Naruto around dreamily wishing he would notice them and fall desperately in love with them. It was never going to happen, it was just a girlish crush but hearing them speak like that angered Sakura. Couldn't they see how much pain he was in? Didn't it upset them to know that he was hurting?

_"I reckon it will be soon, I mean, he did cheat on her before"_

Shaking her head Sakura walked up to the two girls and grabbed them both by the front of their shirts.

"Listen you two, Naruto never cheated on Hinata, he loves her and you guys have a snowballs chance in hell of getting him to even look at you."

"W-we were just saying" the shorter girl muttered nervously

"Well don't, just get out of here and tell the rest of your little group to stay away from him or you'll have me to deal with."

The two girls ran off almost falling over their own feet in their rush to get away from the furious med nin.

"Nice of you to finally tell the truth"

"Hanabi!" Sakura turned around to find Hinata's younger sister and her boyfriend standing behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to be eating with Naruto" Konohamaru said coldly "I'm running late" he turned to Hanabi and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek "I'll see you later"

"Ok" Hanabi smiled as she and Sakura watched Konohamaru run over to sit with Naruto "I try to avoid Naruto, Konohamaru worries I make him think too much about Hinata."

"He really misses her"

"Yeah, they loved each other you idiot" Hanabi's voice was dripping with spite as she glared at Sakura

Sakura said nothing just sighing unhappily, she watched as Konohamaru bullied Naruto into eating before saying "I am sorry for what I did" she whispered unhappily "I don't know what I was thinking…"

"It's not me that you need to apologise to, is it?"

-

-

"So how come you're in here?" Hinata asked looking over at Kai, they had both been in and out of genjutsu's for days but there seemed to be a lull right now, none of the 'staff' had been near them for a few hours.

"I'm from the valley of the seasons" Kai admitted carelessly, he doubted she'd know what he meant.

"I think I've heard of it, a valley that seems to have all four seasons at once but most people don't think you exist. No one ever goes to, or comes from there."

"We don't leave usually, the valley is self sufficient we've never needed outside help… not until a year or so ago, that's when I and some others left. I don't even know what happened to the team I was with. Anyway, at the valley we keep a barrier up that stops anyone from finding us, that's why I'm here, they keep trying to trick me into telling them what I know. How about you?"

"My eyes, I have the Byakugan, it's all seeing, the thing is that my eyesight was damaged a couple for years ago, I now think they had something to do with that and they're trying to work out how I've been able to regain the ability and torture some secrets out of me at the same time. I don't know what happened to my team either, I saw them get buried under snow… I hope they got home OK"

"I've heard of that, the Byakugan, it's a genetic thing so you must be a Hyuga?"

"No, Uzumaki, I took my husbands name and left my clan behind but yes, I was a Hyuga once."

Further conversation was stopped when a loud explosion could be heard far off in the building, the shockwave reverberated and sent both beds and their prisoners flying.

-

-

It was on the fifth day without Kata that Naruto opened the door to find a certain ex team mate of his standing there.

"I don't want you here Sakura" Naruto kept his tone cold "I want you to go"

"Naruto" Sakura looked at her old team mate with pity in her eyes "I'm not here to offer help or to ask to come in or…"

"Good, because I wouldn't take help from you no matter how desperate I was and I will never ask you in."

"Please Naruto!"

Suddenly he found he could no longer keep his temper and moving forward threateningly he yelled "WHAT Sakura? What is it now, have you got more lies to spread? Well don't bother there's no wife here to upset!"

"I never me…"

"I could have lost her because of you! Because of some stupid motive of yours I almost lost the best thing, the two best things that ever happened to me… Now I know what it's like to be without her… it makes what you did seem even worse and…"

"I'm sorry" the apology made Naruto pause and Sakura carried on speaking "I came here to apologise because I truly am sorry, my behaviour was unpardonable but… I was jealous. You and Hinata, at the academy if they had taken a vote, back then everyone would have agreed you both had no chance at being proper shinobi. Neither of you had good grades, you both had the most atrocious social skills, and then, everything changed. You both started to excel, everyone was impressed by you and when you got together it hurt. You had always liked me, it was one of the few things I could depend on and you didn't even have me at the wedding. I know that wasn't planned but… one moment you're becoming a really good friend of Hinata's and the next you're married to her! Everything started to change, people favoured you to be the next Hokage, you had girls lining up and you didn't even seem to notice, Hinata despite her loss of the Byakugan continued to impress everyone. Once again I was left behind. I know it sounds selfish…"

"That's because it is selfish, you shouldn't ruin someone else's life because you can't handle the way things are changing!"

"Yeah… I know. Anyway, I just came to tell you that I'm sorry and I'll never do anything to hurt you again. Naruto I swear, if I could bring Hinata back for you… I would do anything to make it happen."

She was being honest, Naruto had been able to read Sakura like a book at one point and he could always tell when her apologies were real. Sighing he shook his head negatively, yes she was being honest, yes she really meant her apology but… No, he couldn't accept it. Not now while his heart hurt so badly he could barely breathe

"I can't accept your apology," her face fell so he amended his statement "I can't accept your apology yet. But I will one day… thank you though, you helped me work out one thing."

"Oh really?" she looked hopefully up at him

"Yeah, my family is the most important thing in the world, and I can't let my little girl suffer just because she reminds me of Hinata, it's not fair. Excuse me, I have to shower and then… go get my daughter. I'll see you around Sakura"

-

-

"Hinata… Hinata?"

Someone was calling her, shifting uncomfortably Hinata tried to move but found that her body had been twisted in an uncomfortable way.

"Hinata?" Kai groaned as he tried to wake his fellow prisoner, he was completely trapped himself as his bed actually lay on top of him now.

"K-Kai?" Hinata's voice sounded weak

"Hey Hinata, you OK?"

"No, I think I'm bleeding." She could feel a sharp pain in her shoulder and the warm liquid running down her arm.

"You free at all?"

"No, you?"

"I'm more trapped than ever" Kai managed to chuckle even though it hurt his ribs to do so.

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, they used to do a lot of explosives testing when I first came here, I used to hear them talk about it."

"That sound, it's what I heard before the avalanche happened."

"Maybe something went off by accident; this would be the perfect chance to get away if one of us could."

"Well I… hang on" straining against the chains Hinata could feel that one of her cuffs on her wrist had loosened "My left hand is more free I just need to" with careful patience Hinata slowly disconnected her thumb hissing in pain as she did so, there was a slight crack as she moved the bones in her hand around a little more until finally "YES!" Hinata's hand slid through the cuff and she was free. Clicking the bones in her hand back into place it took barely anytime at all to pick the lock on her other cuffs as she grabbed a hypodermic needle from the floor beside her.

Next she picked her way over to Kai and lifted the table up and over so there was less pressure on his chest whilst she unlocked him.

"Thanks" Kai rubbed his wrists as he swung his legs around and stood up, Hinata was right, he was tall, probably taller than Naruto but she wasn't sure, she wasn't walking at her full height right now "but how are we…?"

"Sh" Hinata held a hand over his mouth "listen"

"All I can hear is barking… very regular barking"

"Too regular, that's a shinobi dog, and I think I know him!" Hinata grinned as she grabbed Kai's hand and began running towards the barking. "Yes! it's definitely Akamaru I didn't even realise he might be here!"

"Well we don't have time to go after a dog, we need to get out of here." Kai argued wrenching his hand away and looking around trying to work out where to go

"I won't leave without him!" Hinata said firmly "and if you come help me get him and stay with us we'll get you out of here. I give you my word"

"I don't even know if I can fully trust you, this could be a trap"

"I know, and it's the same for me, but I never go back on my word, that's my ninja way!"

After a moments indecision Kai nodded and ran ahead of Hinata following Akamaru's barking. He heard her whisper something behind him and turned to find her standing still with her eyes closed and her hands pressed together

"Hinata?" he asked curiously

"Release" she muttered again before looking around, nothing had changed "just checking" she told him sheepishly before carrying on her run.

Kai let her run past him before placing his own hands together and following suit, he sighed with relief when nothing changed this time escape wasn't a trick.

They followed the sound of barking until the reached the room that held the source, they looked around disgusted at what they saw. All around them were cages holding animals of various types, there were wolves, big cats, hawks, large lizards, toads and finally a very large dog

"Akamaru!" Hinata ran forward and after a lot of work with a very complicated lock she was wrenching open the cage door and running in to embrace the dog "I didn't know you were here, oh you seem so thin. Are you alright?"

"I hear someone coming, neither of us is in any state to fight" Kai hissed from the doorway, "we have to get out of here!"

"Don't leave us!" a voice came from the next cage surprising them both, they hadn't realised that all the animals here were special

"A talking toad?" Kai asked frowning confusedly

"It's not as unusual as you might think" Hinata laughed moving to the cage and opening the door "These must all be shinobi creatures."

"We are" one of the wolves acknowledged "Many of us are summons of a sort, they are testing how to block summons so if they fight a shinobi they cannot use it"

"Thats terrible" Hinata said running to the cage door and releasing the wolves before heading to the next cage.

"We don't have time for this" Kai complained "There's still someone coming!"

"Not anymore" one of the wolves smiled...well... wolfishly and turned to his companions "lets go show those guys who's boss"

There were murmers of agreement and soon the wolves were out the door swiftly followed by the other summons animals that had been released.

"I think we can leave them to it" Hinata decided hearing the noises of fear and attack coming from the next room

"I think so too" Kai agreed with a smile, he then noticed how pale Hinata was becoming "Are you alright?"

"We need to leave" she whispered holding her injured arm.

"Alright" Wrapping an arm around her Kai looked up at Akamaru "Can you lead us out of here?" Akamaru barked before bounding through the doorway and leading them away.

-

-

There was a soft knock at the door to the Hokage's office, Tsunade looked up and called out a quick 'come in' she knew it couldn't be her 2 o'clock, Naruto would never knock politely at the door he was more the bursting in and calling her names type!

"Lady Tsunade?"

It was Naruto, Tsunade smiled sadly as she looked at the polite but unhappy young man standing in front of her "Hello Naruto, come in, sit down" Hinata had been gone for almost six months now and this is what it had done to her favourite shinobi. He was happy enough when with his daughter but amongst adults his feelings about his loss were obvious. Her heart ached as she thought about how to speak to him now.

"Thank you" Naruto placed himself in the chair facing the Hokage "You wanted to see me Hokage?"

Damn she missed the nicknames he used to have for her "Have you given any more thought as to your position Naruto?" Tsunade asked nervously

"My position?" Naruto repeated frowning in confusion "I thought I made my wishes quite clear."

"Naruto there is no reason for you to give up your position as ambassador to Suna" she argued standing so she could stare down and intimidate him.

"I can't guarantee that there will always be someone to watch Kata, even if I could, I don't like the idea of being gone from her life for weeks at a time."

"You can't give this up, what's next? Giving up your plan to become Hokage?" Tsunade stared at the man in the chair and faltered sinking into her own "you do don't you? You're going to give up on your plan to become Hokage?"

"I can't guarantee my daughter my time if I have to dedicate myself to my village." Naruto's voice was toneless "If Hinata were here… I have made my decision."

"Naruto…"

"Please Lady Hokage" Naruto stopped her and stood "My decision is final take my name down from your list of candidates for Hokage"

Tsunade let him leave but shook her head determinedly, she wasn't going to take his name down, not yet!

After all, the list would be very short if she did so, it currently only consisted of one name.

-

-

"Where are we?" Kai asked as he and Hinata sat huddled in the cave discussing their next move, they had ended up trapped in the mountains for over a week as they dodged bad guys and sheltered from the weather.

"This is the Yael Mountain Range, I recognise it from when I was here before, this is where they picked me up. This is the general area"

"Well considering the fact that we now know there's another facility near here I'm not surprised." Kai sighed exhaustedly "Damn I want to get out of these mountains!" lolling on the floor next to them Akamaru barked his agreement

"We agree" Hinata laughed patting the dog happily.

"If we look at the map I'd say we were about here…" he pointed and Hinata looking around the outside of the cave and then back at the map nodded her agreement

"I agree and the safest route out of these mountains is…" she trailed a finger along "this way. I'd say it's half a days journey"

"But that takes me miles out of my way, it may only be half a days journey on that line but going around the base of the mountain again would take me days" Kai grumbled "I want to get home, even if my wife is no longer awaiting me my son is. That route could be good." He indicated another pass that went in the direction he wanted

"But that takes me out of my way, it would take me days to get back on track. I want to get home just as much as you do." Hinata complained softly, there was a long silence as the two of them looked at each other, finally they came to the decision they had both knew would come at some point.

"This is where we split" Kai slung an arm around Hinata's shoulders and hugged her "we knew this would have to happen eventually."

"I know and once we're both out of these mountains we're already a hell of a lot safer. You ought to stick to main roads on your way home, go through villages."

"Yeah, and you ought to go along this road, it's the most travelled road between Suna and Konoha, you're likely to find help."

"If we split tomorrow morning it'll take me about two days to get home" Hinata decided staring at the map "and you about three."

"Yeah… you look after her right?" Kai turned and patted Akamaru "Make sure she gets home OK, OK?" Akamaru barked his positive response and licked Hinata affectionately. "And you be careful with that arm" he spoke seriously as he looked at Hinata's injured arm, they had been able to patch it up but she had been seriously weakened by blood loss.

"What about you with those ribs? Don't do anything to strenuous."

"Yes mother!" Kai teased knowing it would infuriate the girl. The three of them settled down all huddled together for their final night as a three man… three being team.

Kai had been right to warn her.

The trip down the mountain had turned out a lot trickier than Hinata thought, she managed to fall and reopen the wound on her arm, she had bled profusely and it was taking all her strength to stay conscious.

As it was she wasn't even walking anymore, Akamaru was bounding along with her on his back holding limply onto his fur. The dog was taking his responsibility of her very seriously, he would stop by rivers and streams and lie down so she could drink, he would help her climb onto his back as best she could but Hinata was beginning to feel like it wasn't enough, she wasn't sure she was going to make it.

As that thought crossed her mind her vision went black and her loose grip slackened further. Akamaru only just stopped and lay down in time as she fell from his back.

Pawing at her body gently Akamaru stopped and looked around, he couldn't leave her there but they were so close to home, he whined as he tried to think of what to do, he knew that there were no towns near here and… growling low Akamaru bent his head near to the ground listening as he heard voices in the distance, they were coming this way, right along this road. He recognised their scent but where from? Could they be their captors from before? Had they been followed? Growling more menacingly this time he stared off into the distance he wasn't going down without a fight.

-

-

"…now as you all know the patrols have been doubled due to the Kazekage's visit, this will mean more hours and…"

The lecture Tsunade was giving almost every shinobi ranked jounin and higher was interrupted by a pounding on the door, turning she gave the two man at the door and nod and one of them opened the door a little to speak with the interrupter. There was a few seconds of silent conversation and the man at the door stood back and allowed the door to open further.

"Sorry to interrupt the meeting" Kankurou's mouth was curved ever so slightly upwards as he looked around at all the Konoha shinobi in the large room "but we were expecting Naruto to meet us at the gate. We have something to give him."

"You interrupted my meeting for that?" Tsunade asked angrily

"I should have informed you but… I am no longer the Suna ambassador" Naruto said by way of apology "I need to be able stay in Konoha more."

"I understand, but we picked up something on the way here that we thought you might like." Kankurou's smile grew as he turned in the doorway.

"Kankurou…." Naruto was confused, he was interrupting the meeting because of some stupid gift he picked up coming here? "This is hardly the time…"

As Naruto spoke a beaming Temari helped to open the doors wide allowing Gaara to walk in carrying a very precious cargo.

"Hinata?" frozen to the spot Naruto actually shook as he stared at the bedraggled and tired looking woman in the arms of the Suna Kazekage. Gaara held his friend's young wife very carefully keeping her head resting on his shoulder so it wouldn't just loll around dangerously and being very careful not to knock her legs as he walked through the doorway.

"She's out cold" Temari explained as they all stood there "It's just exhaustion though, we patched up her injuries and she's going to be fine…"

It took a few seconds but Naruto thawed out and in a flash he had run across the room. He seized his wife from Gaara he crushed her close against his chest burying his face into her neck. Even though she was unconscious Hinata's arms wound instinctively around Naruto's neck and she nuzzled into him sighing happily.

Not caring at all that people around him were watching, Naruto dropped to his knees holding his wife in his arms and began to cry.

Barking could be heard outside and Kiba quickly sprinted out and joyful shouts and barks could soon be heard.

Hearing the reunion outside made Naruto smile, not caring to get a proper dismissal he turned to face Tsunade, there was a smile on his face the likes of which hadn't been seen in ages "See you later Granny!" he then shifted Hinata more comfortably in is arms and turning carried her out the doorway.

Once outside the building Naruto was about to carry Hinata to the hospital when he felt her stir against his chest, stopping he sat on the nearest bench and placed her carefully in his lap.

"N-Naruto?" the pale eyes were bleary and unfocussed as they stared up at him

"Hello beautiful" he crushed her to him kissing her forehead lovingly. "I missed you!"

She could feel him trembling and guessed as to the reason, running her hands through his hair she made him look at her so she could wipe the tears from his face. "I'm sorry" she whispered she gasped as he held her tighter making it almost hard to breathe.

"I love you" he hissed kissing her lips as he allowed her away from his chest enough to breathe again.

"I love you too" she responded taking his face in her hands and staring at him "I'm so sorry…"

"Two weeks you said"

"I'm sorry" she was crying now, she really did feel guilty "I never thought that..."

He kissed her roughly not caring that her father and cousin were following them apparently wanting to make sure he got her to the hospital alright "Next time I tell you that I want you to stay home..."

"I'm never leaving you or Kata again" Hinata agreed letting Naruto kiss her yet again

"Good" Naruto hugged her close again, looking over her shoulder he saw the Suna nins had followed him as well as the Hyuga's. They Suna trio were still smiling at them, it was the widest he had ever seen Gaara smile and he mouthed a silent 'Thank you' towards them all. Gaara nodded back, finally he felt as though he had repaid the debt he owed Naruto, on top of that, he felt really, really happy.

"How is she?" Hinata asked trembling in her husbands embrace, she breathed deeply as she inhaled his scent.

"She's grown a lot, Ino Kurenai and Hanabi have helped me with her. I'll take you to her after we get you checked out at the hospital"

-

-

"I'm sure Hinata will want to see her daughter" Ino told Kiba as she headed to the hospital room Hinata was in, "they've had an hour together, that should be enough."

"It wasn't for us when I came home" Kiba teased making his fiancée blush.

Ino couldn't help but grin, Kiba finally seemed completely happy "Shut up" she knocked on the door. There was a crash, some mild cursing and then a very dishevelled Naruto answered the door. Upon seeing them his expression of annoyance changed to a grin and he welcomed them in.

Sitting in bed Hinata's hair was mussed and her face flushed when Ino walked in but as Kiba followed with her baby she reached out making a small pain filled noise.

Kata immediately reacted to her mother and her hand went up to tap her nose before she clapped her hands together happily. She watched confusedly as her mother wept over her but smiled as she did so constantly kissing and hugging her.

"Thank you" Hinata said looking at the couple in front of her "I can't… Ino you're huge!"

"Cheers!" Ino laughed settling herself on the bed next to Hinata "Just what every girl wants to hear."

"Are you…?"

"Pregnant" Ino smiled over at Kiba as she spoke "and you have to return the favour you know"

"What favour?" Hinata asked frowning

"Well you're going to have to help me plan my wedding"

"Oh Kiba, Ino" Hinata smiled happily at the couple "I'm so happy for you" Naruto climbed onto the bed and sat with his arms wrapped around her.

"You guys deserve it" Naruto agreed, he owed them so much. "There are more guests arriving any second now" he whispered and as if on cue there was a knock at the door and Hanabi came running in dragging Konohamaru after her. Kurenai, Shino, Neji and TenTen were next in line with a stern looking Hiashi following. "I thought I said only family!" Naruto complained, he wasn't going to get any alone time with Hinata now!

"I'm dating Hanabi" Konohamaru "and you're like my brother"

"I'm dating Neji" TenTen defended herself

"She's like my daughter" Kurenai argued, they all looked at Shino who just shrugged obviously not thinking he needed an excuse.

"Fine" Naruto huffed a lot less angry than he seemed, he was glad Hinata could see how much everyone had missed her. Even her father seemed more emotional than usual… well his mouth had twitched upwards.

"Tell us what happened" Hanabi pleaded and soon Hinata was able to give the a brief account of what had happened to her (leaving out the more graphic details of course!)

"Kai and I managed to escape with Akamaru, I wouldn't leave without him" Hinata smiled at Kiba "It's a good thing I didn't, Akamaru saved my life once we left the mountains. After we got away we laid a false path toward Konoha and decided to take a longer way around so we'd be less likely to be caught, the thing is we ran into trouble again, we got attacked by one of their people in the area, we managed to down him and he told us where their other facility was, we were about to walk right into it. We had to go an even longer way back over the Yael mountains then we got caught in a blizzard. Akamaru found a cave and we knew we'd have to wait it out. Thanks to the storage scrolls we stole off the man we fought we had enough supplies to last us but it was so cold. Akamaru kept us warm until the blizzard let up. There's nothing more to say other than after that Kai went his way, we went ours… we came down the mountain, I was struggling to get home and fell unconscious, we got lucky when Akamaru met the Suna contingent. I hope Kai got home, he has a wife and child waiting for him just like I had a husband waiting for me." Hinata smiled at Naruto who still held onto her. "And a beautiful little girl" She smiled and kissed her baby's head smiling as Kata settled back in her arms and began to doze. "She's grown so much"

They were all about to ply her with more questions when a nurse walked in, seeing the crowd she immediately began to shoo people out, it was mostly the men that got sent away as they made the most fuss. Kurenai left as well saying she had to go tell Iruka the good news as he had been teaching when the big reveal occurred.

For a long time the girls sat and talked, Ino told Hinata how great Naruto had been with baby Kata despite his one blip. Hanabi and TenTen agreed telling her that he had been lonely and depressed but that Kata had never suffered. They were still chatting when a shy knock at the door made them pause.

"Come in" Hinata called and the door opened to reveal a certain pink haired kunoichi

"What are you doing here?" Hanabi asked accusingly

"Don't" Hinata placed a hand on her sisters "don't cause a fuss, just take Kata for me" There was a hard expression on Hinata's face as she handed her baby over to Hanabi, it was an expression that no one had ever seen on her before. "Leave us, I want to talk to Sakura alone" Hanabi, TenTen and Ino nodded, looking at Hinata TenTen was surprised. For once, Hinata looked just like all the other Hyuga's cold, hard, and really scary. Hanabi smiled, Sakura had faced the Hyuga anger before, now she would feel it again.

"Hinata" Sakura started but was stopped when Hinata held up a hand and ceased her talking.

"Sakura I learnt two things whilst I was prisoner, do you want to know what they are?" Hinata didn't wait for Sakura to answer she just carried on, her voice malicious and cold "One is that whilst my body can survive weeks without proper sustenance, can still work despite harsh conditions and brutal torture, it can almost shut down completely at the idea that my home is destroyed and everyone I love is killed. The second thing I learnt is that I am strong enough to fight for what is mine. Naruto, is, mine. He and little Kata mean more to me than anyone else in this world. I will fight for them, and, if you ever try to take them away from me I will **destroy** you. I will not just hurt you, or your career, or your reputation, I will make it so that you are a complete and utter outcast, so much so, that parents, will think twice about naming their child Sakura because they will be afraid of stigmatising their offspring into having a bad life." Hinata's eyes flashed with a never before seen emotion on her face "You and Ino may have started playing this type of game when you were the popular girls in the academy but I have gone through the worst things a person can possibly go through, as a result I am stronger than you. If you want to play that game with me ever again. _**I**_ will win"

There was a long silence as the two girls stared at each other, finally Sakura spoke up "I'm not here to do anything but apologise."

"Then apologise, I don't want excuses from you, I don't care about why's and how's just apologise."

"I'm sorry" Sakura said obediently

"Accepted, but the warning remains."

Before more could be said the door opened and a very calm Naruto walked in, he didn't seem surprised to see Sakura there but he didn't seem to care either, he made straight for his wife and kissed her gently.

"Tsunade says you can come home but you have to promise to stay in bed for a week."

"Thank god" Hinata sighed "I just want to be at home"

"Cool" Naruto pulled some clothes out of his bag "We'll see you around Sakura" he said dismissively "I have to help Hinata change now"

"Sure" Sakura nodded and headed to the door as she left she could just hear the soft giggling and teasing of the young couple as Naruto helped his wife dress. She hadn't fixed everything yet but hopefully, one day, she could be friends with them again.

-

-

Hinata smiled as she watched Naruto put Kata to bed, he was so good with her and the baby settled easily into her crib after he had brought Hinata in to kiss her goodnight. He was being ridiculously careful with Hinata, he wouldn't let her walk at all insisiting that he carried her from room to room, he helped her dress, if she needed anything he ran to fetch it, he would probably feed her as well if she let him. It was when Naruto was dressing in his nightclothes when he mentioned Sakura again.

"It's fine Naruto" Hinata reassured him when he asked what had happened "Sakura and I have said what we need to say."

"Mm" Naruto grinned as he pulled on a shirt "So… I'm yours?"

"You actually heard all that?" Hinata asked blushing red, "I-I didn't mean it l-like th-that…"

"I know, don't apologise for it though, it was hot!" Naruto grinned as he climbed into their bed "God I'm glad you're home, this bed seemed so huge without you." He pulled her into his arms and she rested her head on his chest her dark hair tickling his skin. "I don't know what they did to you exactly" Naruto muttered wanting to ask but not daring to in case one of the worst things that could have happened to her had indeed happened to her.

"They didn't rape me Naruto kun" she whispered kissing his neck "They may have intended to later on in order to get the Byakugan but they didn't get time to."

"Oh thank god" Naruto muttered kissing her neck, death would have been impossible to deal with but rape came up a close second. "I was so, so, so worried about you, I had awful nightmares about you being hurt and I couldn't do anything. I wanted to rescue you but didn't know how! Tsunade never even let me near where you disappeared from"

"You did rescue me in a way, if I hadn't had the hope of coming home to you to keep me going I'd have given up in there. It was horrible…Naruto…" Hinata's eyes were filled with tears as she looked at him "One of the men where I was held" she felt him tense up, his arms tightening around her "remember what I told you… it's not that bad" his hold loosened "but he kissed me" she sounded revolted by her confession and a shudder ran through her body "I just wanted to be honest with you and…"

"It's alright" Naruto whispered "I was worried that when you came back they'd tell me much worse things had happened to you and as long as you're alive and here, in my arms, everything is right again."

"I was so afraid" she admitted pressing her hand onto his clothed chest just over his heart "I thought that I might never see you again" shifting she looked up into his eyes "That scared me more than anything"

"Same here" Naruto suddenly moved rolling her onto the mattress and allowing his body to loom over hers "Never" he kissed her cheek "ever" he kissed the other cheek "leave" her nose "me" her forehead "again"

"I won't. I love you"

"I love you too"

-

* * *

Aw cute fluffiness to counteract all the angst!!!

I've wanted to write that moment between Hinata and Sakura for a while but never had the right context, I knew something big would have had to happen to make Hinata be bitchy so I guess this was a good catalyst

Please R&R


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